O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

Martin Rinckart died 12/8/1649, Germany (born 1586).He was a Lutheran who began pastoring at 31 in Eilenburg, Saxony, his home community.Between the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) and the Plague of 1637 Rinckart buried some 5,000 victims – holding as high as 50 funerals a day.